Day 365 - Signing Off

A busy day at the Club today. I was there by 0745 in order to assist with the distribution of the cards for the day's competition: the Grimditch Trophy. This is played every year on the morning of the Men's and Club AGMs and and pitches players together in pairs, representing either the the Captain or the Vice Captain.  I had done the draw the previous evening, splitting the field into Hi and Lo handicap groups.

I did this entirely randomly, which is how I found myself playing off the 15th tee. I was partnering David, against Scott and Duncan (the 2015 Club Champion).  Duncan plays off +1 (!), which meant that my partner and I would be receiving 7 shots. I must be honest and say that I was very nervous about this match-up as I haven't been playing particularly well of late.

As things turned out, we had a great match: we were never behind, managing some great wins on e.g. 4 and scrambled when we had to. A couple of better putts (17 was weak!) and we would actually have won. As it was, we delivered a 1/2 from our game which was probably a fair result.

The Grimditch Trophy being awarded to the Captain

Overall, the players playing for the Captain did well and my team managed to squeeze ahead by the slenderest of margins: we ended up winners by 10 to 9!  After the Prizegiving: one golf ball each for all on the winning side...., it was time to head upstairs for the AGMs.  First we had the Men's AGM, which progressed smoothly and then the Club AGM.  I had to say a few words at both but by this stage I am very much Yesterday's Man and the reins had been definitely passed across to the incoming Captains.  I collected, in Kathryn's absence, our Flitch Salver prize, which was fun too.

After the formalities were over, it wad time for the Captains' Drive in: Oh, Happy Memories!  Again, the pressure on the drives was telling and both Captains missed the green left - just as Diana and I had also done...  Not sure about the Chelsea and Sunderland shirts they wore: they won't be allowed to wear them again on the course!

Now is not the time for post-Captaincy reflections: I shall come back to those at a later date. For now, I am shattered and intend to collapse in front of the golf from Pebble Beach this evening...

Day 364 - Home Alone Not

Well, if Thursday was a day of gorgeous weather, today was the complete opposite... It was cold, it was grey and towards of the end of the round we had rain/sleet as well. I had turned up to take part in the Roll-Up this morning and at around 8:15 found myself on the 10th tee of the New Course, ready to face the elements.

I was partnered with Russell and our opponents were Graham and Chris. Despite the difficult conditions, the match was very tight: all square after 9 holes, all level after 18 and just a few bits in it. From this should not be inferred that the quality of the golf was particularly high, rather that we matched each other in our incompetence... I did manage a fine birdie on hole 5 but that was about it.

At the end of the game, we were very happy to get into the warmth as it really was quite unpleasant out there. Nothing though that a pint of Youngs and some cheesy chips couldn't put right!

On the way out, I spent some time with Tom in the Pro Shop just making sure that everything is ready fro the Grimditch Trophy tomorrow...my final competition as Captain.

Then home for an afternoon of rugby watching: with the weather conditions foul outside, there was no incentive to go anywhere so France/Ireland and Scotland/Wales it was.  The second game was the better of the two but both matches had their moments.  In between, I started to prepare dinner for this evening: nothing fancy, just meatballs in tomato sauce with pasta (but the sauce was excellent!)

At that point, the phone went and I soon found that I had two extra guests for supper: Caroline and Paul were in the are and dropped by initially for a cup of tea. What a treat, as I had expected to be Home Alone and now I had company!

Day 363 - 2 Days To Go

Not sure what happened with the Day numbering but I do know that Sunday is the day of my handover to the new Captain, so have bumped the number up accordingly... :-)

I had an early start this morning: wanted to see the GP after last week's blood test and 0740 was the only time available, so that's where I was bright and early.  Nothing serious, but a few more tests required.

A quick visit to the barbers was in order: I must look my best for any photos on Sunday after all...

I was preparing for a lazy day when I had a phone call asking me if I could come up to London for a meeting in the afternoon. Which I duly did. As a result of this discussion, I may soon find myself with some paid employment of a project/consultancy nature: well, I shall need something to fill my time once the burden of my Captaincy is lifted!

Back home for some domestic duties: washing and ironing to be done to make sure that everything looks tip top when Mrs Lawrence comes home. 

This was all fitted in with keeping a distant eye on the cricket on the box: the 4th ODI between England and South Africa.  For much of the game it looked as if South Africa had it all sewn but but then England played their way back in, but couldn't quite deliver the final coup de grâce.  All square now going into the final game on Sunday...which is going to be a busy day!

Day 360 - A Casa

I forgot to mention yesterday that one of the things that I did whist in Lavenham was to help my mother with online applications for a new driving licence and a passport. It's somewhat ironic as these two processes (along with renewing your car's road tax) are some of the slickest and best applications on the web: as such they are ideally suited to the older generation who need them but yet at the same time are more cautious about using them...

We managed to get a group of 8 out today on the New Course: at the start of play, there was still some signs of frost on the ground and everyone was complaining about the cold, but only 2 holes in the sun came out and we were treated to a fantastic day. No wind (!) and warm sunshine made it appear as if we were in early Spring rather than February...no wonder all the flowers are so confused this year!

The golf itself was a mixed bag: two of my 4-ball played excellent golf, whilst I didn't.. it was though enough to win the few pennies available for the winners. Not that I hung around for long though as Steve and I had a 3 pm meeting with Burhill management.

We sat down for about an hour and a half with Colin, Guy and Matthew, reviewing a bit how the past year has gone and also looking forward to the future (party to ensure that everyone was prepped for any questions that might come up at Sunday's AGM!).  It was interesting to hear Colin's perspectives on the state of golf in the UK from his conversations with other proprietary club owners, as well as England Golf. It would appear that overall golf is still on a downwards trend, though underneath the raw data there is a clear split between the high and low quality operations, with the former prospering and the latter not: expect to see a number of newer course return to farmland use with the better return available on fresh food.

In the evening, I went out for dinner with my son and daughter: we were testing out a new Italian opposite the Shell garage on the Portsmouth Road in Cobham - it's recently transferred ownership and name and is now called A Casa.  The menu was reassuringly brief: a choice of 4 main dishes all freshly cooked. We took a selection of three and they were all good. And the tiramisu afterwards was delicious...

Day 359 - Moving Day

Mum in her new pad

My mother has recently moved house: after 35+ years in what was the second family home (nothing to do with second families...), last week she upped sticks and moved up to the top of the village into a small three bedroom town-house.  It's been a major move and has required a lot of tough decisions to get rid of both oversized furniture as well as accumulated clutter.

My brothers Tony and Roger had done a great job in actually making the move happen as well as getting the new house set up. When I go there today, it already starts to feel like home and it is great to see so many photos and pictures helping it do so.

My job was to sort out the technical stuff: we got the wifi fixed up, the phone line repaired, the TV connected and the CD player working as well as ensuring that the bluetooth speaker works off the iPad: no excuse for no music and entertainment going forward!

I had driven up for the day in my Tesla: a good test of the technology as I knew that I'd have no opportunity to recharge when there. When fully charged, the on-board computer states that it has a range of 245 miles and the round trip journey is a touch under 220 so it should be no problem?  I knew however from online research that this range can degrade in the cod and wet weather, especially if you travel over 70mph and make use extensive use of the heater.

Poor quality pic of my journey tracker

I am pleased to report that, with some careful driving and extensive use of the AutoPilot and Traffic adjusted cruise control, I managed to get home last night with 12% (35 miles) still "in the tank".  Kudos to Tesla's on-board software which worked perfectly.

Before we went out to dinner, Mum and I spent a fun half an hour leafing though some of the envelopes she had kept entitled "children's letters": she had catalogued and maintained all the weekly missives that the four of us were then required to send  home when at boarding school.  We looked through years 1977-78, when I was at College - all I can say is that my handwriting was more legible in those days and that my own children have never ever written letters to us like those!

Out for dinner at the newly refurbished gastropub the Cockhorse Inn ; if you are ever in Lavenham, I can thoroughly recommend the pork belly with sage mash!

Day 358 - Dinner Time

When arranging for golf today, I made the plea to the group with whom I play: "can we please have a day without some wind?".  I was unaware that I had any superhuman weather controlling powers up my sleeve but I am delighted to be able to report that it worked...  We played our 18 holes of golf today in conditions that would be welcomed in the middle of spring, let alone in the first week of February - a gentle breeze and some warm sun accompanied us around for most of the time.

This cannot be the only reason for it, but the quality of golf was also very high too: we were two 4-balls and had a match between the teams, with the best three scores counting on every hole.  My team (Jan, Steve, Jon and I) managed to return a card which was the equivalent of 8 under par (116 Stableford points) and thought we had aced it... in the end there were only 2 points in it though!

As we were leaving the Club after lunch, there was a steady stream of Ladies, all dressed up in their finery, coming to attend their AGM. Today therefore marks the final day of Diana's Captaincy as she hands the reins over to her Vice, Sally.  Diana has been great fun to work with and can take a lot of satisfaction from her year - and she gets to put her feet up tonight!

I, however, am still on duty: tonight we had the Men's Committee Dinner where the outgoing Captain gets to say thank you to all those who have served in the past year.   He may also invite a few guests of his choosing: I was delighted to be able to ask Colin, Roland, Bryan and Martin to fill those slots as their friendship through the year(s) has helped make my time at Burhill so special.

The meal itself was delicious (smoked salmon, beef fillet and tarte tatin) after which Steve gave a very kind speech thanking me for my year as Captain, after which I was presented with a silver salver as a memento.  I then got to say my own thanks to all those present, for which I used some Lego men as a prompt.

I was then surprised to receive another gift from Colin who had prepared a word cloud from all my Blog entries this year: apparently, he had to download more than 100,000 words... a frightening thought!

Day 357 - A Super Day

On Sunday night, I managed to stay up for the First Quarter of the 2015 Superbowl between the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers. At that point, I had pressed the record button and given in as it was past midnight and there were still many hours to go.  This morning, over breakfast I watched the rest of the game though I must admit to fast-forwarding through the entire half-time show. 

I decided to watch the game for two reasons: one, so that I would know what everyone was talking about when I return to Florida and two, because I had put some money into my US golfers' Super Bowl sweep.  Last year, I had managed to win 3 of the 4 prizes (lucky dips based on the exact scores at the end of each Quarter) and I am pleased to report that I managed another one this year: $100 is heading my way....

Traditionally, the Super Bowls have been denominated by their sequence number in Roman Numerals (e.g. the 44th was "Super Bowl XLIV").  This was year 50 and some marketing guru must have decided that Super Bowl L was somehow not good enough (looks like a shirt size?) so instead they have switched to referring to "Super Bowl 50"... made me smile.

No golf today: not only did I need a break but, as things turned out, with 90+mph winds reported off the south coast, it was not a day for trying to hit a white ball around - I have lost count of the windy days we have been suffering of late...

Instead, I headed up to London: first to collect my daughter's wedding invitations from the printers (good job, Dad!) and then to take both of my children to see Billy Elliot on the stage at the Victoria Theatre.  My EDF Energy offices used to be around the corner and I had long promised Caroline to take her so, when the news came out that the show will close in April, we finally got our act together. And what a splendid evening we had: super energy, good story, tremendous dancing by the kids and amusing 80s political references - we had a great evening and shall be recommending anyone who has not seen it to get in quick.

The only downside was that most of the audience comprised foreign visitors to London: they appeared to miss most of the jokes and talked through some of the more intimate scenes. And as for the behaviour of the two Spanish speaking young kids in front of us....

Day 356 - Winter Fare

Today was a family day, or at least a 75% family day.  I met my son at Burhill for a game of golf in the morning.  Some sort of plumbing problems kept him at home for a while and it wasn't until gone 10:30 that we arrived at the first tee.  Having played the Old Course the day before, we opted to give the New a try, in the hope that the strong winds of the day before might have abated somewhat.

They hadn't. We did see the sun on a couple of holes and, when we did it, was it was actually quite pleasant.  But when it didn't, it wasn't.  A number of the holes were brutal and we decided not to play the full 18, returning to the Clubhouse after 14 instead.  My son was much better than I in the strong winds today.

Back home to see the Ireland-Wales game: great fun for a neutral, with a rampaging finish as both sides had a go at breaking out of the 16-16 tied game.  Time will tell, but this could be a good result for England.

We were joined for dinner by gf Aggie as well as my daughter Caroline and fiancé Paul. I had prepared a hearty, winter's meal which went down well (Braised Ox cheeks, garlic sautéed green beans, ginger carrots and version of Dauphinoise Potatoes which was a great success). There was not a lot of room left for the blackberry and plum dessert...

After the meal, we gave one of my Christmas presents its first outing. This was a geographically-themed board game called "Who knows where?"  - and it was a lot of fun!  Definitely a keeper...

Day 355 - ANOTHER Windy Day

I had been intending to play in today's Stableford but the opportunity presented itself to play a round of golf with my son and a colleague of his from EY, Anthony, so I had changed my plans a few days back.  I had also persuaded Colin to join us and so we had a four-ball organised. Anthony had tickets for this afternoon's Spurs game so the request was that we start early. 

A Met Office Weather Warning in force...

When we arrived at the Club this morning, it was noticeable that the car park was much less full than I would have expected on a Saturday - especially given there was a competition on the New Course.  The bar was also relatively quiet: clearly a lot of people had been put off by the appalling weather forecast for the day: this had talked of substantial rainfall and very strong winds.

As things turned out, this was only half right: it didn't rain at all.  But the wind blew. And how!

Colin and I took on the young men - and it turned out it was a day for old men's accuracy over the youth's distance off the tee.  He and I Coxed-and-Boxed very well and put together a pretty decent better-ball card given the dreadful weather and the winter playing conditions.  They never stood a chance....

There was then time for a catch-up with Matthew, the Club's GM, and the opportunity to talk through the week ahead: the AGMs to get through and the first time for him to see how things work at Burhill.

Back to the bar to catch up with the 2nd ODI in Port Elizabeth, the end of which I watched when I got home: it was a brutal display of power from Buttler at the end!  And as soon as that was over, I switched over to watch the French squeeze past the Italians in the first round of the Six Nations and after that saw the English bully their way past the Scots at Murrayfield: the important matches are yet to come...

Day 354 - Friday Fun

Another early start this morning as I had been selected for the Rest of the World team, this time playing in the Vets Nations Cup side.  The format of this competition is different from the main Men's game: we played a Greensomes game off the Yellow Tees so it should have been - and was - a bit easier to score well than of late.

My partner-in-crime today was Wayne, a very useful 18 handicapper, originally from South Africa. This was great as I was able to tap him up a bit for some ideas in preparation for our November trip out there.  And our opponents, playing for the Irish, were their Captain Mark and Geoff.

And what an exciting game we had: Geoff holed a great putt on 9, our first hole, and then Mark holed a long one on 11 and it just went on like that: we had birdies on 14 and 6 (great approach and then an outrageous putt respectively), whilst our opponents had back-to-back net eagles and then a birdie on holes 3 and 4.... tough stuff....

In the end, as is so often the way, despite all of this, it was the simple bread-and-butter putts that cost us: we overhit 17, missed a 4-footer on 7 and then failed to sink something a bit less than that on our final hole to halve the match... ouch!

A companionable sandwich and a beer for lunch followed after which it was time to think about the evening meal: I wandered around Waitrose and decided on lamb shanks with a celeriac mash: perfect winter food!

Disco time?

While that was cooking, I decided to have some fun with my new Philips Hue lights: I downloaded an App (Ambify) which changes the colours of the bulbs in time with any music you play off your iPhone: daft but fun and good value for £2.99 - especially when Kathryn's away....

Some very entertaining golf at the Waste management Open in Phoenix closed the evening: gorgeous weather and great skills on show. The par-3 16th hole, with raucous crowds cheering and booing every player is not something you'd want to see every week, but it has its place here!

Day 353 - The End in Sight

There were 8 of us Disorganised Golfers today, DOGS for short: the perfect number!  We opted for something different this time and went for the 3 best scores out of 4 - a more punitive version than the usual 2 out of 4, but it keeps everyone on their toes.  As things turned out, at the end of the game there were only 2 points difference between the two teams, which means that the competition design worked... and our team just edged it as well, primarily thanks to the VC who was on fine form.

Part of the Burhill members' website

Time for a speedy lunch and a pint, and then said VC and I repaired to the Lounge, along with the incoming Vice Captain, for a few hours of intensive website discussions: this is a great tool for communicating with the membership and it will make the future Captains' lives that bit easier if they can feel comfortable using it.

Home for a swift turnaround: I needed to shower and change and get a draft out for this week's Friday email in not much more than half an hour... and I just about made it...

Back at the Club for dinner this evening with members Gabi and Eugen: it had seemed a great idea when we had made our date but we had each forgotten to check that the kitchen was actually open this evening. It wasn't....  Nevertheless, phone calls were made and food was served: great customer service!

Much of the time over dinner was spent reminiscing over the past year: something which will happen rather more often in the next few days, I suspect....

Day 352 - Socialism?

Today is my birthday and, whilst I have received a few cards in the mail, the bulk of the birthday wishes received have come via a myriad of social media: I spent a lot of the morning thanking people via text message, on WhattsApp, in Facebook posts and direct messages, iMessages, Skype texts and even a host of vaguely random Linked-in mails too.  Am exhausted!  And I haven't yet checked my Twitter account either...

Early in the morning, a large package was delivered to the door. I opened it, not really paying attention to all the "do not use blades" warnings, and had quite a shock when a helium-filled balloon rose to the ceiling.  A lovely surprise from my daughter and her husband-to-be!

Just occasionally, when I am asked how old I am, people expect the response to be the birth year (I am a "60" child..) - well for the next year, I can answer 58 to all such questions...  And, according to an article in today's Times, I am that bit closer getting through the ages when a midlife crisis threatens!

A gentle day today - a couple of business calls, some domestic duties including some of the ironing that has been piling up, but at least there was some England cricket to watch at the same time - and very exciting it was too.

Then, in the evening, I was taken out to dinner by my children and their better halves. They had selected the Harwood Arms in Fulham. The only pub in London with a Michelin star... And excellent it was too. We had a round table which I always love and the food was great. A fantastic way to celebrate my day!

Day 351 - A Lucky Man

When we set out from the Clubhouse this morning for our game, the wind was blowing, the skies threatening and we felt as we were in for a classic round of winter golf.... And yet, somehow, first we saw some blue skies and then for a considerable while we were also treated to the sun as well.  A welcome surprise in early February.

Today there were five of us, disorganised as ever, who took part in our Stableford competition. On this occasion, my three-ball were victorious, thanks in great part to partner Alan, who played very well in what were not easy conditions.  For this, we walked away with the princely sum of £2 a man...

Back home for the afternoon, I discovered an American TV series that I had never heard of before: it is one of the many hours of "free" viewing to which we are entitled as Amazon Prime members. It was entitled "Mozart in the Jungle" and is a comedic take on life in the New York Symphony Orchestra

And very entertaining it was too: some good music interspersed with a blend of humour worked well for me. Fun seeing Malcolm McDowell on the screen again: very much a star in my youth in such things as O Lucky Man! (one of my all time favourites and A Clockwork Orange (which also contained some classical music references...), he then disappeared for years only to reappear recently in the Heroes TV series.

As I write this I have Alan Price's excellent soundtrack from O Lucky Man blasting through the house...just as well Kathryn's not here!

Day 350 - Wet February

When I was out with my children the other day, one of their friends said that she was "doing a Damp January" - a more flexible form of the Dry January that I completed yesterday. Nice idea.

I have lost count of the number of years that I have been subjecting myself to an alcohol-free start of the year, but it is certainly more than 10.  And it seems to get slightly easier every time so maybe that's a good thing. Anyway, I toasted in the new month yesterday evening with my first beer of the year in a bar at Düsseldorf airport.

The reason I have decided to do without in January(ies) is purely a personal one: to show myself, and Kathryn, that I can do it. I must say that I have never felt that I sleep any better nor lose any weight (in fact there are times when I find myself snacking when I would otherwise have had a drink in my hand).  And yes, I know that a 5-2 regime would be medically better for me...maybe I shall try that as well this year.

Today is the occasion of the Iowa Caucuses in the US, the first time we actually get to hear from some real voters in what is always a very long process to select candidates to get their parties' support for their candidature in the November Presidential elections. 

Every four years, when this cycle restarts, it brings back memories of the 1972 edition thereof. I was about 14 and at boarding school and can remember listening to the radio late into the night: there wasn't much choice of channels in those days and I often found myself switching over to Radio 4's coverage of what was going on in the US.

These were pre-Watergate times and Tricky Dicky as he came to be known had a relatively easy time of it.  Two years later and I was still listening, enthralled as the whole edifice collapsed. Alistair Cooke's version of it was - indeed still is - fascinating: well worth a re-listen.

No idea what will transpire in 2016: my personal bet is on the first Lady President, but there's still a long way to go. Watch out for Mr Rubio...

P.S. Just writing this prompted me to listen to the 25th Anniversary Letter from America reviewing Watergate a quarter of a century later - worth a go at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00yj9j0

Day 349 - Nations Cup

One of the very best competitions that we have at Burhill is the Nations Cup.  This is a team game, based loosely on the Rugby Union Six Nations championship.  There are teams representing the four Home Nations as well one for Europe and the last tagged as Rest of the World, all of whom play against each other in match-play format at times loosely in line with the rugby dates. 

What this means is that for five weekend days through the early months of the year, there is an 08:30 shotgun start on one of the courses at the Club, with tees 1-6, 7-12 and 13-18 each hosting an inter-country match. We used to have six two-man teams (the format is foursomes) but recently double-manned one of the tees to allow 14 people to play for each team every weekend.  This has worked pretty well and the atmosphere in the bar beforehand (anticipation...) and afterwards (explanation and excuses) is always great.

Today was the occasion of the second round, the first one having played a couple of weeks ago, and everything is very tight with no clear leader having emerged yet.  I have been looking forward to competing as there are only two dates that I cam make this year and this is one of them. I have always played for the Rest of the World team (by marriage?) and we have had some success in the recent year.

Unfortunately, I have picked up an awful winter cold/sore throat and really didn't feel up to playing this morning. Our team Captain, John, did have a reserve up his sleeve and my absence didn't cause any logistical problems. That being said, we suffered a 2-5 defeat and now find ourselves in the bottom half of the table which is led by Andrew's Welsh team (cue sheep noises....).  But there are still 3 rounds to go, so all is not lost!

In the afternoon, my job was to to do the draw for the Anglo American Trophy: this is the premier handicap singles matchplay event at Burhill and this year we have a record 179 entrants.  To win this requires 8 victories and is a long haul (self promotion alert: I won it in 2007 so can speak from experience).  In days gone by, it used to take the best part of the day to do the draw manually and then to fill out the pairings on paper: today it took Steve and me about 5 minutes to complete online...this must be some kind of progress!

Day 346 - A Small World

A few days ago, I had planned for a quiet day today having completely forgotten that I had promised a friend, Duncan, to host a colleague of his who is looking for a golf club to join in the Surbiton Area.

This is how I found myself acting as part tour guide, part ambassador for the Club and part Captain on a Saturday morning.  Duncan and Matt had driven together and were waiting for me in the Lounge when I arrived. Introductions over, we decided to head out for some golf.  Given that Matt wanted to see what Burhill was all about, we opted for 9 holes on the Old first, and then play the New later.

Given that the conditions were not great, we decided to play a Skins game but halfway through it was clear that the 18 handicap we had allocated Matt was probably not quite enough: he hasn't played for a number of years and, despite all the length and strength that you would expect from a 29 year old, will need to take a few lessons if and when he joins.

After the first 9 holes, we walked around the Clubhouse and did a tour of the practice areas (very impressed they were!).  Then we proceeded down to the New Course and played holes 1 through 9 there in what ended up in being quite pleasant winter sunshine.  Duncan won the game on the last hole after he and I had been pretty evenly matched throughout.

Next stop was lunch at The Green - a very quiet and empty Green for a Saturday lunchtime, it must be said.  Lunch was filling and good value though and I think that Matt was impressed with everything he saw, and I am sure he'd fit in very well if he decides to join: on vera!

A view across the Zugersee

Actually that should be: wir werden sehen...  We discovered through lunch that both Matt and I had lived in Zug, Switzerland, with his house being quite close to where we had lived, albeit with a 20 year gap!  Matt had also married a Swiss girl he met out there and clearly spoke fluent German.  With that and his oil trading background, we had plenty to talk about...

Day 345 - Prize Giving

I had put my name down as a "maybe" for this morning's golf but, when I opened the curtains and saw that it wasn't actually raining and that the forecast for the day was for 11°C (that's 52°F), I decided that I'd give it a go.  When I go to Burhill (only just on time as the traffic was dire...), the wind was howling and when, for some reason, we had opted for the New Course, I questioned again why I was out there. But shouldn't have: I had a very companionable three-ball, playing with Andy and Des, and although the golf itself was pretty dire, a good time was had by all and it was great to see Andy back on the course after a 6-month post-op layoff.

A quick non-alcoholic drink and then back home to prepare for the evening. Tonight, we are holding the awards Dinner.  This is a relatively recent innovation at the Club and is the occasion when we invite all the 2015 Competition winners to dinner and present them with their prizes, and just as importantly, the chance for them to get a photo taken holding what are some seriously large pieces of silverware.

In previous years, the Awards ceremony had been followed by a speech from the Director of Golf, reminiscing a bit about his time on the Tour.  Pip is no longer at the Club and, anyway, it was probably time for a change.  We had thought about paying for a sporting celebrity to address the dinner but had left it too late to get anything organised, which meant that the buck stopped at the Captain's door.

Lots of Prizes...

Turnout for the evening was very good, though some of the key winners hadn't been able to make it, which was a shame. Nevertheless, we had 80+ people in attendance and around 2/3rds of the prizes would be handed over to their rightful owners.  The food for the evening was very good and the room was in high spirits once we moved onto the actual distribution of the silverware.

Tom, Steve and I had had a rehearsal earlier in the evening and, as it turned out, had set things up pretty well.  Steve, as VC, handled the master of ceremonies' duties efficiently, Tom found the right prize to hand over and I managed to smile 100+ times for the cameras: the whole thing went very smoothly and did not take anything like the length of time we feared (too many memories of long, boring, school prize-givings in the back of our minds!).

I then took over the floor and shared what was I hope a vaguely amusing retrospective on my year as Captain - a great way of rehearsing my AGM speech, even if I did allow myself more latitude than I shall in two weeks time: this was after all, a well-lubricated male audience...  Speech over, Steve closed of proceedings and we migrated downstairs to the bar.

One of the downsides of a Dry January is that you feel a bit out of things at these times. Nevertheless, it wasn't until gone 11:30 pm that I drove home, happy that everything had gone well and a good time had by all!

Day 344 - A Lucky Day

I spent all day in London today; our monthly Ofwat Board Meeting kept me there until late afternoon after which I decided to walk along Oxford Street from the office in Bloomsbury.  I took the opportunity to pop into John Lewis and saw a scarf that took my fancy: on presenting my card for payment at the till, I was then delighted to discover that it had been marked down by 50%: result!

For some reason, everything worked: I then took the tube from Bond Street back to Waterloo and arrived at the correct platform to catch the Cobham train just 1 minute after its planned departure - and it was still at the station, running a few minutes late. This was great news as I no longer had to hang around for the half an hour that I had feared. It's always nice when things work out in your favour like that.

Back home in plenty of time to work on tomorrow's Friday e-mail (only 2 more to go!) before getting ready for the evening. Diana had kindly invited me to supper tonight. It was to be the occasion where she, as current Lady Captain, passed on to Sally, as the incoming one, her embroidered lady Captain's sweater - and very nice it looked too.

Ann, the new Vice Captain, was there and Anna, the immediate Past Captain, so we were encircled by Captains of various ranks.  Fortunately, available partners were also invited and a very pleasant evening was had by all.  Kieran and I though are still on our Dry January sentences and were on best behaviour.

And I only complained about there being no tradition of a Burhill Men's Captain's jumper once...or was it twice?

Day 343 - Feathering our Nest

Fortunately, the weather was most uninviting today as I had to be home... I had two appointments for some technical work to be done at home and there was a huge contrast between the service being offered.  One, the large corporation, had informed me that the engineer would be coming at some point between "8 pm and 5 pm", while the other, much more of a one man band, ha committed to arriving at 3 pm.

I was somewhat surprised that the man from Sky TV did not in fact text earlier to say what time he was due to arrive, though to be fair, mid morning, I did re-check my appointment online and find that he had narrowed his arrival window to 2-4 pm.  And it was pretty close to 2 pm that he rolled up. He was a pleasant guy and it took him about 30 mins to check the offending connections, restore the box to factory settings and get us back online. I was slightly irritated that not more work was required as we have had constant problems with this piece of kit but shall cross my fingers and hope that he has mended it for good.

At the end of his visit, my second engineer called to advise me that his previous job had taken much longer than he had expected and that he wouldn't be with me until 4:30 pm.  Hmm.. this could be a problem as I am due at the Club tonight at 7 for a Club Committee meeting...

Liviu (it turned out that he was of Romanian extraction) arrived at the allotted time and set to work. He was here to install a new electronic thermostat to control the central heating and water boiler. It is a piece of technology that i have been looking at for a while and the new generation of the Nest system seems to give me waht I was looking for: the ability to activate the systems remotely from PC or phone as well as a smart thermostat that will learn how we we like to operate our heating and adapt accordingly.  We hall see....!

I had a good chat with Liviu though who personifies everything you read about the hard-working Eastern European immigrant: he was a young man who had been trained at home and has set his own business up here as an accredited Nest installer. He was charming and very efficient - made himself available for any problems if I needed further; he was relaxed about the fact that in was in a hurry and couldn't pay him on the spot: an electronic transfer tomorrow was fine, though he would have welcomed a few more minutes to discuss my Tesla a bit more...!

Off to the Club for my final Club Committee meeting as Chairman: a strange feeling and maybe for the first time, I realised that this role is actually coming to its end: it'll be weird next time to be at one of these meetings as "just" a member of the Committee...

Day 342 - Burhill Day

Definitely a Burhill Day today....

In the morning I played 9 holes with the DOGS: I was partnered with Mark and we had a good matchplay tussle with me inching over the line on the last with a good putt.  Conditions were not easy with a wind blowing and some wet greens, though I was glad to be stopping at the half as it looked as if the rain was coming in for the back nine.  My highlight of the day was hitting onto the par 3 sixth and my ball landing and stopping 8" from the hole, which was situated back left: sweet....

Lunch was at the Green with Matthew, the GM, and Steve, the incoming Captain. It was our first catch-up since the New Year and there was lots to talk about.  Much of the time was spent getting our ducks in a row for the formalities of the weeks ahead; let's hope that the weather play its part!

Then, after nipping home briefly, I was back at the Club at 4 pm for a meeting of the Handicap Committee and the Annual Review of  Handicaps. this is where all players' performances in 2015 are examined and, where appropriate, minor adjustments are made to their handicaps. With a Club the size of Burhill, unaided this would be an impossible task. Fortunately, our IG software generates a report using a CONGU algorithm to highlight where players are consistently playing better, or worse, than their current handicaps. This, together with any other information we could draw on (performance in Knock-outs, Matches etc.), formed the basis for our decisions. Like all such things, an element of judgement is required and I hope and believe that we ended up in the right place.

No time for anything more than a quick drink after that and it was back into the meeting room, this time for the final Men's Committee of my Captaincy.  As ever, this was conducted in good spirits with everyone giving of their time to help ensure that the golf at the Club is managed as well as we can.  I have been extremely grateful for my fellow Committee members' help and advice over the past year(s) - as all other members should be!

Day 341 - Mr Robot Parking

A quite day today: most of spent in front of the computer screen...  This weekend was the final competition of this year's cycle before we carry out the Annual Review of handicaps, meaning that it is now possible to print off the report that IG generates to give the list of all of those players whose are recommended for plus or minus adjustments.  They all had to be written to and will be discussed tomorrow.

For most of the day, the cricket was on in the background but, with the seemingly remorseless progress towards a South African victory, it didn't capture my imagination.  I should be very surprised if the England team last very long tomorrow...

I did have to go down to our local Cobham Waitrose store to pick something up that I had ordered to be delivered there from John Lewis (this "Click and Collect" service is excellent, if anyone hasn't tried it! - despite the fact that they now charge £2 for low-value items).  When I got to the Waitrose carpark, I was delighted to see that there were a few places, a number of which were available for me to test out the car's new AutoPark software. I am glad to report that it worked perfectly though, to start with, I was a bit nervous taking my hands off the wheel and letting the Tesla do its thing.  I got a couple of strange looks from an elderly couple who stood to watch but all worked just fine!

We have been members of the Amazon Prime free delivery service for many years and have only just discovered the options that we now also get for "free": there is a music streaming service (à la Spotify) which we experimented with when in Florida and there are also a number of dedicated TV box sets: last night I got stick into Mr Robot, a tech mystery which picked op some awards at the Golden Globes recently - not for everyone, but I am enjoying it!  And a perfect thing to be watching with Mrs L is Sarasota saying goodbye to her visitors.

Day 340 - Monster Cookies

Today was supposed to be my final Captain and Pro Challenge match but unfortunately the Club were unable to supply a professional to play with me... with Mike's departure to the States, the demand on our professionals' time has increased and Matthew, the Club GM, was also not available.

Nevertheless, I was up bright and early and met up with Martin and Jeremy, my putative challengers for a three-ball game. We were fortunate enough to be first off the tee (apart from a couple of 2-balls who had set off very early (could they even see where they were going?) whom we never saw again.  We decided to play a 4-2-0 game and. tp start with, I was very glad that I was not playing with a Pro as I just couldn't get the pace of the greens right: they were very different from those I had been enjoying in Florida: wet, bumpy and slow... 

Before I knew it, I was miles adrift and, at the turn, it looked as though it was going to be a 2-hores battle between my opponents. As often happens in these games, however, the worm turned and gradually the game tightened.  On the final hole, the 18th, I managed a par which won the hole and meant that I had snuck my way into second place, still two holes back from my namesake but glad to have made a match of it.  We were round in not a lot over 3 hrs so were amongst the first back in the bar. It still being January (only a week of dryness to go..), I enjoyed a Gunners (IMHO the best non-alcoholic option!) and a chat before returning home.

I then spent a few hours catching up on the 4th Test before deciding that I had earned the right for something sweet. There being nothing in the house (temptation is kept at bay at chez Lawrence!), I decided to make some oatmeal and raisin cookies as a treat - and very good they were too!

Like many others, I have recently made the switch to Whattsapp for online conversations with family and friends.  This evening, one of our threads was abuzz with excitement awaiting the result of the USA vs Ireland game being played out by our wives in Florida on the Esplanade course at Lakewood Ranch.   No news by the time I went to bed: they must be out celebrating....

Day 339 - Suits II

A slow start this morning: I did have vague plans of making the 08:00 Roll-up, but the need for a bit of bed-time to help manage the jet-lag meant that I never made it... Instead, a lazy breakfast in front of the cricket was in order.  After that, I drove the car up to Clapham for lunch with my daughter, her fiancé and his parents, at the Northcote Pub, where my son also joined us.

This family meet-up was because we had a date in the afternoon for the purpose of some suit-fitting for the Big Day.  Paul and Caroline had found a specialist retailer in Barking, so it was quite a trek across London (train from Claphan to Waterloo, Jubilee Line to West Ham and then one more stop on the train again to our destination).  The whole process was a bit tiresome, but everyone got fitted and all looked very smart in their blue/grey outfits.

The rest of the party were heading off for a drink at London's highest public garden, but I  had to make my way back to Clapham topick up the car and drive on to Burhill. where we had the annual Pub Quiz.

I hadn't been to this event for a few years but was looking forward to the evening as I always enjoy this kind of thing. I was on a table with the Lady Captain and the Sadlers and Collinson-Joneses, and I think it is fair to say that we were hoping for not too many questions on football or entertainment... and we were happy that this was indeed the case!

The quiz-master for the evening was Tony from Burhill who did a great job: he had come up with a varied set of round formats to keep people on their toes, whilst the questions themselves found the right blend of interest and challenge without being over-difficult.  Our team did very well on a series of cryptic clues to British towns, but dropped too many points in some of the other rounds to win.  The Club served what I thought was a delicious curry (though lasagne was also on offer), all of which made for a very pleasant evening.

Day 338 - Back on Autopilot

British Airways were on top behaviour today: the flight was on time, early if anything, the cabin staff attentive, the food very good and I actually got a few hours sleep (though it does help when you have a flat bed to lie down in...).  We landed on time too, though as we approached the Gatwick terminal, the weather looked anything but inviting: grey, rain and chilly... yippee...

The first thing I did when I got a phone signal was to turn on the heating for the car remotely then, as I had no luggage with me, zipped through the airport, called up the Tesla driver to bring my car to  me (great service!) and, as I picked up a coffee and croissant at Costa, was able to see on my iPhone that the car was just approaching the meeting point. It's great when technology works.

Improved Autopilot sensors

It was a real treat to be back in my car: whilst I had been away the autopilot software had been updated and this was my first chance to test it out. The dashboard display is improved and you can now better see the vehicles around you. I allowed the car to drive me all the way from the M23 to my M25 junction and it did a great job, with a noticeable improvement in the smoothness of the drive. And, as a bonus, when I approached the house the car opened the garage door automatically without being asked to - great!: I wasn't sure whether or not that feature would work.  The one that is not yet sanctioned for use in the UK (though it is in the US) is the Summon function, whereby the car can be called to come to you from where it is parked..not yet anyway!

The house was very cold when I arrived and it took all day for the heating to warm it up...brr....  I spent a couple of hours wrapped in a quilt watching some of the Test coverage before heading off to Burhill for a meeting with the Vice Captain: he can obviously see D-Day approaching as he arrived with a long list of questions. We spent a useful 3 hours or so together and I think that we are in good shape going forwards.

Day 337 - Quilts To Go

Today is my last day in Florida: I head back to the UK tonight. It's been another coldish start to the morning but the forecast for the day is positive with temperatures definitely a few degrees higher than of late - which is great for our visitors who have a game of golf planned.  They will be playing with a couple of fellow Lady members from Burhill, Christine and Sue, both of who also have homes in the Sunshine State.  They are going to be playing at Laurel Oaks which looks very nice - we haven't yet had the chance to play it, but all the reports are very positive!

Kathryn cannot be a member of the party as she has kindly volunteered to be my chauffeur (chauffeuse?) to Tampa airport this afternoon.  Before we leave though we have a couple of things to do: reserve a car for her trip to LA next week (done), book some tickets in the BA Sale to allow us to return to Florida for a month in the autumn (done) and, lastly, to make enquiries about some carpentry work we should like o have carried out.

For the latter, our first choice was to return to the company who had done such a fine job on our kitchen just over a year ago.  There has though, it now transpires, been a change in ownership so we decided to go down to have a look see.  Unfortunately, when we got there the shop was closed as someone had to "run an errand". 

Quilters at work

Not wanting to go straight home again, we wandered around a couple of the other local shops, including a quilting establishment.  This part of Sarasota is where many Mennonites have settled and they are very much in evidence, both in person on their bicycles but also by the shop names (e.g. the Dutch House Furniture or Der Dutchman, a strangely named restaurant).  The quilt shop was no exception and we saw a number of ladies, all in Amish-style dress, working away at some very large and complex looking quilts - all retailing for well over $1,000 so not cheap.

Home for a cup of tea and then a mildly painful drive up to Tampa (the usual traffic bottlenecks were alive and well...). Fortunately, the plane is on time so I hope that I shall be able to get some sleep tonight....

Day 336 - Kerching!

It's Wednesday here in Sarasota and I leave for the UK tomorrow after this 2 week break. Beacsuse it's Wednesday, it's Bondur Golf Day... that means that I am playing in the large group that meet up around lunchtime, play 18 holes and then congregate in the bar afterwards to catch up, hear the scores and generally engage in banter...

A different format again: today the players have been split up into two pools, roughly the 18+ and 18- handicappers. I was put together with Kurt, whose wife comes from Norwich, Dave, whose wife doesn't, and his visitor Adam.  On the first tee ,we all belted the ball down the fairway and nobody even considered the mulligan that custom and practice here allows: this is looking good, I thought...

The game we were playing had four different ways of winning: there were Closest to the Pin flags on all the par 3s and par 5s, there were skins available on every hole, there was a team game where each 4-ball had to count 3 scores on every hole (one gross and two net of strokes allowed) and, in addition, there was a putting competition based on the team's total putts on, again, the par 3s and par 5s...phew!  And I had to keep score.....

After my visit to GolfTec the day before,  I was keen to try out my new swing thoughts - and to start off, it went really well.  I managed the first 9 holes in a level par 36 which was pretty good for me. Unfortunately, I tired towards the end of the round and couldn't maintain this level of golf, recording an 81 in the end.  Nevertheless, our team ended up 2nd in the team competition, we won the putting contest, I captured 2 CtoP flags and one skin: total $23 - kerching!

Back home for dinner and the chance to hear all about the ladies' shopping exploits for the day... though I did have to promise not to say anything more about that on my blog.... though the word "kerching!" also featured....

Day 335 - GolfTec

When we first purchased a house in Sarasota, I brought with me from the UK an old set of clubs that I had purchased to try out some steel shafts.  They weren't very good to start with and ten years later they haven't improved. So, given that I am playing more golf out here, I decided that it was time to invest in some new sticks...

I wandered around the nearest golf superstore called Golfsmith and tried out a couple in one of the bays but really hadn't a clue which make, loft or lie to choose.  For this reason I had decided to spend some money having a proper fitting and had made a booking at the local GolfTec who offer both regular lessons as well as club fitting services.  I turned up at 10:30 with my (elderly) clubs ready for the fray.

After having my arm length, hand size etc etc all measured, I was asked to hit a few balls with a special club that measured club speed. No great surprise that this came out on the lower end of standard - in fact, everything was bang in the middle of the various ranges.  At this point, I was wondering why I had paid good money to get told that all I needed to do was buy something off the shelf...

And then we started hitting a few balls and it turned out that every time my club hit the ground, I was making contact with the toe end. I asked the guy who was helping me why that was and he showed me.... He played me back in slow motion a video of my swing and I was shocked... It was very clear that the take-away I was using was far too much in front of my body and that I was coming back at the ball in far too upright a position (hence the toe contact).  Once he put a picture of someone (in this case Steve Elkington) who knew what they were doing on the other side of the split screen, the difference was palpable. 

Maybe I should be having lessons rather than buying new clubs?

Anyway, I continued by trying out various makes: Ping, Callaway and Mizuno before going back to the first ones that he had selected: a set of TaylorMade PSi irons, with a lie of 2°.... these will be ready for me on my return here in mid February and we shall see if they make a difference or not....

Day 334 - Blue Monday

Another Blue Monday survived..
This one's for my Dutch friends!

Today is apparently "Blue Monday"... Reading the Telegraph online this morning, I see a long list of things that I should be doing.  None of them include going out to play golf with a bunch of friends in Florida.. but that is what I did anyway.

As things turned out, perhaps I should have chosen one of the other options, like stay in bed all day, as just as I had played well on Saturday and Sunday, together I couldn't do anything right.  Best to draw a veil over the whole game: our team came last, I won no skins and hit none of the par three greens either, so no Closest to the Pin Flags either...  The Golf God giveth and taketh away...  But this is one of the reasons why we keep on coming back for more, I guess.

Reminds me of the definition of the difference between a good golfer and a bad golfer: at the end of the round, the bad golfer remembers all his good shots and the good golfer all his bad ones.  I hit a great 3 wood on Hole 8 today.... and then 4 putted.... 'nuff said!

Dinner was late today as we have some visitors coming into town: Mary, Ann and Chris from Burhill are coming here for a week's golf with Kathryn. They will be glad to escape the cold in the UK, though it is January weather here too in Florida and we are about to enter the chillest week since we have been here: blame all those northerners for sending their cold air down south!  The ladies had a good trip and arrived on time at 8 pm driving one of the biggest SUVs that I have ever seen....

Day 333 - Windy City

We were woken up in the middle of the nightly the storm outside: driving rain and howling winds. We'd isn't think too much about it until the following morning when we started reading some of the articles in the local press. Apparently we had a couple of tornadoes go through Sarasota, flattening a number of buildings and leading to two fatalities. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss: many of our neighbours received advisory text messages in the middle of the night suggesting that they take shelter in the bathroom. Not sure how many did though...

All if this, coupled with the fact that we had another rainstorm blow through just before 09:00 meant that out planned golf game with friends Brad and Jessica got blown away...literally. Instead, I contented myself with watching Man U vs Liverpool on the box here in the morning.

At lunchtime, we headed to the Club for lunch with the aforementioned Brad and Jess - a delicious Reuben sandwich, since you ask!  After that, with the sun out, though the wind still blowing, we opted for a gentle 9 holes. Actually a nice way to spend the afternoon as the course was quiet. 

Next on the agenda was a trip to see the movie "Spotlight" which is one if the Oscar Best Picture contenders. This is the story of the Boston Globe's investigation into abuse in the Cathilic Church. Parallels were immediately apparent with All The Presidents' Men though this story was definitely lower key and focussed more on the procedural nature of the investigation - and was probably truer to life as a result. A good film and one which kept the audience rapt. 

Day 332 - 83 all out

Saturday here is pretty much like any other day, though the traffic patterns are different, the restaurants are a bit busier and the golf courses are too.  I woke up early this morning and thought I'd check the cricket score. Hmm England all out with a slender lead and lunch was being taken with South Africa having scored a few runs for no wicket.  Rolled over and dozed some more... looked again: 3 wickets down... no 4, I mean 5...

That was it: TV on and the rest of the morning was spent enjoying the splendid performance of the England team. Who said Test cricket was boring; I found it enthralling and was bemused by how momentum can swing back and forwards in a series like this.

Once the final runs had been scored, we decided to go out floor shopping... There is an area of the house here that needs redoing: either by replacing the carpet or else possibly putting down a wood floor.  Like all such project, it risks getting bigger the more you think about it: maybe we should also take the opportunity to remove some of the moulded bookshelves...  We got a good look at what was out there and as ever, came to the conclusion that you pretty much can spend as much or as little as you want!

We had a vert pleasant lunch out, downtown in Sarasota: we had considered crossing the bridge to the beaches but the traffic looked rather daunting, so parking was bound to be a problem.

Back home for the afternoon and, on the spur of the moment, given that the sun was shining and the temperatures were up in the 80s (sorry...), we opted for a casual 9 holes together. Kathryn played some of the best golf I have ever seen here play and I managed to get off the tee reasonably well, so we both returned home happy with our efforts.  It was probably a good idea to have played today as the weather forecast for tonight and tomorrow looks dire....

Day 331 - Sock Drawers

When we woke up this morning, we could hear the pitter patter of gentle raindrops outside the bedroom window. Hmm may be a problem for the golf later on.. 

And then, by the time that the coffee had brewed and the toast toasted, the real rain had arrived. It absolutely chucked it down! It looked to be raining so hard that the pool was in danger of over-filling. This went on for an hour or so before it started to improve. 

At this point the emails started flying and all these fair-weather golfers out here opted instead to sort through their sock drawers... We had been due to tee off at 11:45 and, of course, by then the sun was out....

Fortunately, three of us were getting itchy clubs by the early afternoon and met up for a game at 2 pm. John just wanted to practise but Henry took up my challenge of a match play game. Feeling (over)confident, I suggested that we play off scratch (ignoring the 4 shot delta in our handicaps). 

Big mistake. He played very, very solid par golf over the first nine after which I found myself 4 holes down...  By now, the sun was truly out and the course had drained wonderfully meaning that everything was set for a great afternoon.

Unfortunately, everybody else had the same idea and all those sock-drawer sorters had come out to play: all three courses were packed!  Given that we had charged around our first half in just under an hour and a half, this was not good news. In fact, things ground to such a halt that I had to pack in after 12 holes to get home in time for our evening's plans. I did have to concede the match though and now owe Henry a drink next time we meet up. 

In the evening, we went around to friends Ralph and Michelle for supper and a casual game of bridge afterwards. After the Armageddon-like weather of the morning, it says something about the climate here that we spent the whole evening outside...

Day 330 - Chip Butties...

It's a Thursday here. Kathryn had a very early start, being in the first tee at 0800 when it was barely light... This meant that I had a morning to catch up on various things.

First on the list was some preparation for the Burhill Golf Club's Annual Review of handicaps. Not yet finished, but a good start made. Then it was time to draft up this week's Friday Email. For some reason, this took me longer than usual but got there in the end. 

All of which meant that I ran out of time to get a few other things done. I did though spend an hour reviewing a complex Ofwat case that I am involved in. I did not get to the end there...

A trip to the local Home Depot store was next on the agenda. I had been meaning for some time to purchase some Philips Hue lights for the house here. These are internet connected light bulbs that you can program from your phone. Great for turning them on when you are out or indeed even out if the country. I have already decided to buy some for the UK and can see I am going to have some fun!

In the late afternoon, we went to our local cinema to see the recent film about Steve Jobs, starring Michael Fassbender. A small insight only into the man's life but well played by both him and Kate Winslett as his Work Wife and a sparkling script from Aaron Sorkin. Not bad at $2/head either!

On the way out, I had a look into the local "British Pub", called the White Horse. The board outside was advertising the best Root Beer in Florida, which was not a good start. Heading the menu though was a Chip Butty at $5.95. Not sure what the locals will make of that particular highlight of British cuisine...  Instead, I went home and used up some of the previous day's brisket in a meaty and delicious ragu: yum!

Day 329 - The Eagle Has Landed

A busy day for the Lawrences States-side: Kathryn had a meeting of the Board of the University Women's Club, where she is responsible for the monthly newsletter, in the morning and then had her first meeting of the Richmond Park (i.e. the community in which we live) Book Club. The book they discussed was Fates and Furies, which has some pretty good reviews but I am not sue that it is my cup of tea...  And Martin had his usual Wednesday golf game which pretty much takes care of the whole day...

The weather here has taken a turn for the worse: it was definitely chillier last night and this carried over to this morning.  No shorts and short sleeves this morning... but rather long trousers and a fleece top, at least until the sun came out later in the day.

I was again put out in the first group: good because we can set our own pace, less so as a result of the fact that it meant we were again first in the bar afterwards and had to wait an age and a day until the rest of the gang came in.

The format we played today was a more difficult one: in groups of four, we were to record the three best nett scores on the Par 4s and 5s, whilst on the Par 3s it was the best two gross and one nett scores.  Our team played pretty well to start with but then we had a couple of disaster hole.

We had a pretty good finish though which helped, as did our performance on the Par 5 Hole 14 where your truly managed a gross eagle (poor drive, excellent 5W and a 9i from 118 yards into the hole...).  A thing of beauty.

All of which meant that I ended up on the right side of line money-wise today: our team came 4th and I managed 2 skins and 2 closest to the pins all added up to $28... I'm rich!

Day 328 - British Golf

I had been invited by a friend here, Brad, to join him for a four-ball at around lunchtime.  He had a couple of other guys lined up, Bob and Don, and we met up on the practice ground before proceeding to the first tee.  The request was made: could we play a "British" game?  I explained how golf was played at Burhill, but I am not sure the concept of meeting up in the morning for the Roll-up translated terribly well: the general reaction seemed to be that if you met up at 8 o'clock in the bar, why wouldn't you still be there at midday?

No such problems here: the bar is certainly not open at that time of the morning!  We did though agree that we would play a 4BBB game, with bits on the side.  We replaced the £1-£1-£2 with $3-$3-$6 and settled on 50c per bit.  Balls were thrown in the air (another unheard of custom here!) and I was paired up with Don, against Brad and Bob.  It was at this point that my new partner shared that he had hardly played a game in many months...

I managed a decent birdie on the first to get us one ahead and was, briefly, worried that I might find myself in that embarrassing position of having proposed a game and then winning easily (never a nice place to be). I needn't have worried though... After a few very scrappy holes (including an incident where one of our opposition picked up and pocketed not one but two balls that were not his...) things tightened up and we ended up the first half all square.  We again got ourselves into an early lead on the back nine but this soon evaporated and two excellent pars by Brad meant that we moved to the 17th tee dormie two down.

This was going to be tough as I was giving shots all around on both holes. A regulation par on the difficult 17th won a hole back and then my all my partner had to do was two-putt from 12 ft on the last to win the hole, half the back nine and the match....

Ah well, maybe next time?